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Is the Future of Gaming on a Mac?

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With some developers prophesying the end of console gaming, suggesting that the next generation could indeed be the last, many are wondering where gaming will go over the next five, the next ten years.

Some say that it'll be mobile, with touch and gesture interfaces leading the way. The fact that over a billion people have downloaded Angry Birds and that there are barely a couple hundred million consoles owners, would to an outsider, seem as if that's already the case.

However some have suggested that Apple could soon be the next big name in gaming. Thanks to the introduction of its better than HD retina display technology, inclusion of high powered processors and more efficient Nvidia GPUs, perhaps in the future Mac's will be as common among “PC” gamers as the Windows operating system.

Of course, Macs basically are PCs, just with a different O/S and a closed internal hardware setup. In reality, when people talk about gaming on a Mac, they're really taking about gaming on OS X, the latest iteration of which, Mountain Lion, is being offered for a very small upgrade fee – making it much more accessible to the average Apple user who has likely already shelled out a lot of money for the hardware.

While the more technologically savvy PC gamer might laugh at Apple fans buying what could be considered overpriced kit, the average PC layman doesn't care what graphics card they have – they just want to run Skyrim at max settings. In this arena, while costly in comparison to building your own, Apple's desktops and notebooks could do very well, since the products look good, work well and come with that particular bit of Apple chic that fanboys lap up.

The fruity firm is also at the forefront of touch screen gaming, with its iPhone and iPad hardware being some of the most dominant in the market. Consoles like the Wii U and Xbox 360 with Microsoft's Smart Glass app, are now playing catchup, meaning we're likely to see a new generation of games released over the next few years that caters purely to this control type. While it's difficult to say if there are many real gems that stand out among games across all genres and mediums at the moment, it would be surprising if something didn't come along that blows everyone away soon enough.

If it does, you can guarantee it'll be Mac compatible, likely with a controller app similar to Microsoft's offering.

While the PC and consoles will continue to hold the foreground on gaming advances for a while yet, the increasing number of games being developed for both Mac and Windows – especially in the Indi arena – suggests that PC users won't be able to laugh at the limited library of titles playable on Apple laptops and desktops for much longer.

I'm just looking forward to Apple vs Windows gaming sessions. Which side will you be on?

No chance will apple ever be able to become to future of gaming ... maybe on phones and handheld devices ect but never the hardcore stuff .... thats why peaple rather build there own PC's .... shit loads cheaper and lasts longer....other that parting out .... a massive 5 or so grand which will only last about what 2 years or so before it needs an upgrade?

Why do gamer always think they need to upgrade their crappy neon boxes every six months? No other consumer user base does this. Most people keep their hardware for 5+ years before upgrading - especially Mac users.

theese days you think a computer can keeep up for 5 years?!?
and you say especially mac users! i opened 2 instances of XCODE on the fastest mac book pro on the market a few months ago and everything started lagging and in the end the computer froze and i had to cut the power on it.
and no real mac user has his computer for more than 2 weeks after the new model is out.
( Apple makes prisons that people for some reason desides to lock them selves into )

Users != Developers. And yeah, people have no idea how little computing power they use. They have an app that's programmed by a terrible programmer with memory leaks all over the place (Windows lol) and blame it on hardware issues.
Wow, you must not know many Mac users who aren't rich - nobody I know has bought a new mac within three years of buying their old one, not even the game devs :/

theese days you think a computer can keeep up for 5 years?!?
and you say especially mac users! i opened 2 instances of XCODE on the fastest mac book pro on the market a few months ago and everything started lagging and in the end the computer froze and i had to cut the power on it.
and no real mac user has his computer for more than 2 weeks after the new model is out.
( Apple makes prisons that people for some reason desides to lock them selves into )

I would see games becoming more popular on Linux in the future, considering linux can not only run on both PC & Mac setups, but run on pretty much any hardware. Not to mention it is fast, stable, smaller than other OS' and no to mention free.

With linux growing in popularity, more and more software is starting to support Linux. Over the next 10 years it is quite possible linux usage (in the home) will pass mac.

As long as the horrible "hardcore gamer" crowd is delusional enough to believe that they need thousands of dollars of obsolete Windows setups to play the latest terrible fad shooter, real gamers will always be overshadowed by the idiot windows 'p0wer uzr' crowd

i for one never liked apples shitty O S , and their hardware is a joke to the pc's tech capabilities , and to say pc owners dont care about how good their pc is , is a joke , i insist on the best , top gfx,ram,pro and mobo , with a fully tuned system, i spent 1 grand on mine, but i only do the whole setup ever 3 years, only thing one really needs to get once a year is a good gfx card , that alone will run games on top detail , especially nvidia;s new awesome gpu's , but games are getting better on pc , where macs are slowly gettting there, plus macs look shit fullstop for rigs , pcs are for true gamers and macs will and always be for poop non serious gamers .

This is the stereotypical response of someone who is fearful of change in this industry as a whole, and mirrors many other comments to this article. It is immediately obvious to anyone who has used current intel systems running recent (within the last 2 years) versions of Linux, Windows and Mac to see the revolution that is taking place. The author of this article has some very valid points, and he underlines some very important facts (specifically, what share of the market is spending money on what). Devices are becoming an integral part of our computing experience... hence the label that has been affixed to the now we are experiencing as the "Post PC Era". Developers have already begun to integrate devices into our gaming experience... Mass Effect 3 had device apps that would unlock features within the main game. Recent MMO titles tie limited features such as auction houses, guild chat and character builders as Apps for devices. This has set the stage for features that current and future gamers will expect from games, and we're only seeing the beginning. Hate on Apple all you want, but they own substantial share of the device market, with iOS currently owning 64% of the world's browser market share. Because Apple has developed a platform of components by design through their OS (OSX & iOS) work flawlessly together and enhance each other as you combine them, more people who own individual components are likely to add to the collection to complete their computing solution. The PC market has changed. It is not just the quality of the hardware that matters, but your choice in operating system, devices, and how well they all work together. Someone who owns a Blackberry phone, with an Android Tablet, and a PC running Linux is going to be hard-pressed to find any solution that works well together by design as Apple has packaged with its computers, devices, and operating systems.

I disagree with you therefore I'm a 'sad ass' fanboy. Real mature. It's simple-minded, myopic assholes like you that give the rest of us gamers a bad name, you know? People like you should be banned from calling themselves a gamer.

You should look in the mirror buddy, you cannot be a gamer mac-boy. Ever.
The rest of the world is laughing at you.
And please do try to act mature after you been notified of your childish behavior, that was allmoust a funny comeback.
Its so funny how 1 guy is battling loads of people, without eny actual knowledge or facts why mac should be the future gaming platform...
The fact just is, without PC you cannot be a serious gamer! Sorry to burst your bubble but playing COD in your console is the hello kitty version of gaming

^ I believe they call this kind of reply both 'clasping at straws' and 'attacking a man of straw'. Sorry man, you just admitted defeat ;) Let's just grab the checklist here: Someone who has no idea what they're talking about telling someone who does they don't? Check! Unsubstantiated claims to back up an invalid argument? Check! False accusations about the opponent? Double check! As a bonus, I LOVE how you're accusing me of childish behaviour - it's always nice to tell people to look in a mirror without looking it it yourself, no?

Apple fanfucks don't play games. Apple fanfucks are fucktards with huge amounts of insecurity from having small dicks/tits or are really fat or ugly or suck at life somehow. This is why people use Apple's overpriced garbage. To try to compensate for something. I know a few. A small man syndrome, a big fat obnoxious douchebag syndrome, and a girl with a bunch of dumb girl mental problems. They all rock iPhones, and the douchebag in particular is always boasting about his Apple shit being faster than PC shit. This guy is the guy when I was growing up that no one could stand. He still is that guy and always will be. He's always been about what he has and how awesome it is. Comparing his status & success by what he has, and how much he perceives it to be worth. He's been running that race all his life against everyone who couldn't care less, me included. I had an iPod Shuffle once. I'll admit mp3 players don't last long for me, but this thing was a piece of shit too, and iTunes is a miserable fucking nightmare from a company that supposedly makes easier to use software. Sorry Apple, MS wins that one. You know where else Apple loses folks? Value. If I'm gaming, really gaming, and I care about settings and rates, and I'm not retarded, then I've bought hardware that doesn't have pictures of apples on it. Which means I've bought better hardware for less money. TV's will become PC's, you will surely be able to waste a bunch of money on one with a picture of an Apple on it, or get a Samsung one that kicks it's ass up, down and sideways (or LG/Toshiba/Sony/Panasonic/Sharp etc.) for less money. Touchscreens are pretty useless for navigating a TV, but Kinect is just the opposite. The iFad is not going to be used for the same kind of gaming that consoles and PC's are used for. In the beginning there were PC's, and in the end there will be PC's. What form they come in is debatable, but you can't beat the power and versatility of a PC. Currently the dominant ones come in the form of desktop's, laptop's & smartphones, but PC/TV's are next. The iFad might have a run like consoles did, but it is temporary. As soon as you make an electronic clipboard do all a laptop does, you've made it into a laptop. Apple compatibility is irrelevant. Apple's attempts to control everything they sell and what users can do with it, combined with the extra costs associated with their underperforming hardware & consumer limitations is why Apple has no potential. They have a small fanfuckface market for all the baby dicks out there, and that's it. Either they change, or their market share stays the same.

Big ranting indeed lol. But I can somehow understand. I know people with macs that usually make arrogant comments about our own hardware and that theirs is superior, bla bla... It's almost inevitable for them to tease us pc users. My policy is to never criticize, only if attacked or if asked opinion, but always in a diplomatic stance. Just try to stay away from those people dude lol

People say this a lot, but I've honestly never seen a Mac user act like that. What I do, unfortunately, see all the time are PC users jumping at every chance they get to call Mac user's Faggots on every article mentioning Apple. Seriously, who's the arrogant ones here?

This has very big potential, as more people develop mobile games by a very large margin. If Apple really wanted the future gaming to be on a Mac, then they need to surpass Microsoft's Direct X to even want to compete.